Cord Byrd: “as I look about at my distinguished colleagues seated in the august Senate chamber, I find myself mentally transported…”

“as I look about at my distinguished colleagues seated in the august Senate chamber, I find myself mentally transported to another gathering of distinguished leaders, in another elegant chamber, that occurred exactly two hundred and eleven years ago today. The date was Monday, September 17; the setting, the Philadelphia State House. It had been a long, hot summer, and only 38 of the 55 delegates attending the Constitutional Convention were still in attendance. One can imagine the commingled sense of pride, nervous excitement, and exhaustion that filled these men as they filed into the State House chamber and took their seats. For awaiting them that day was a task that they must have eagerly anticipated for several months-- and that many of them feared might never arrive. It was to be the fruition of their diligent, patient, frustrating summer of debate, discussion, and dispute. Finally, they would put their signatures to the document, freshly copied on parchment in neat script, that they had spent the summer composing. And so it was that, after a protracted and at times painful labor, on September 17, 1787, the Constitution was signed. Today, this document, little changed since its creation in Philadelphia, celebrates its 211th birthday.”